No doubt one of the Marine Corps’ top priori- ties is the continued push for digital interop- erability across the Marine Air-Ground Task
Force (MAGTF), from airborne platforms to ground
forces and shipboard commanders.

MajGen Lawrence D. Nicholson is hot about getting digital interoperability for the warfighter now. He
wants Marines — not just aircrews, but young squad
leaders — to finally have real-time data and information on the go that they need to make decisions and
complete the mission.

But the Marine Corps just is not there yet. Nicholson,
the 1st Marine Division commander at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., tells of the early 1980s when he was a lieutenant
riding in helicopters with his infantrymen, their minds
etched with carefully planned missions. They were flying in the dark, literally.

“As soon as that [helicopter]ramp came up, it was lights out,” theseasoned combat veteran recountedduring a San Diego panel discussionon networks and warfighters duringthe WEST 2015 defense and com-munications industry conference inFebruary. “It was lights out on any-thing we knew about where we wereheaded. It was lights out on any in-formation we knew about anychange in the disposition of the ene-my or any situation that changed.You were just hopeful that the pilotwould put you in the right LZ [land-ing zone]. That was always a benny.If you got out at the right LZ, thenmaybe you had a shot at accom-plishing your mission.”Even as a company commanderseveral years later, “that didn’tchange,” Nicholson said. And ascommander of 2nd Battalion, 2nd

Marines, preparing to go into Kosovo, he was lucky if “acrew chief would hand you something scribbled” perhapsnoting a new LZ before realizing, “Now, what do I do?”The ability to collaborate with Marines on other hel-icopters, share information or change the missionplans en route “just didn’t exist,” he said. “It’s now2015. Guess what? Not a whole lot has changed since.”Despite his frustrations, just in the last year, he andhis division are full-bore on giving them digital inter-operability — he calls it “command and control on themove” — with a closed Secret Internet Protocol Routersystem for collaboration and discussion on the fly. Thedivision experiment uses equipment Marines alreadyhave, notably the AN/PRC-117G Harris wideband tac-tical radio, to provide a limited interim capability. Theultimate goal? A truly joint digital interoperability thatcan link every warfighter.Power Down’

Marines aim to close the gap in digital interoperability
to provide ‘on-the-move’ command and control
By GIDGET FUENTES, Special Correspondent

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The Warfighter in the Loop

The pace is picking up for Marine Corps digital interoperability
systems and concepts that provide command and control for the
Marine Air-Ground Task Force across the battlespace, down to
the small-unit level on the move.

; In April, 1st Marine Division trained with network-equipped light
armored vehicle and MV-22B platforms to see how the tactical
network system can support mobile company-level missions with
real-time data and information.

; The Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course in April drew top
officials to Yuma, Ariz., for digital interoperability tactical demonstrations, including an airborne secure Wi-Fi network and unmanned
systems such as aerostats that extend the digital network.

; Also in April, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is the first to
deploy with a secure Wi-Fi-like system and a box-like hub that
accommodates voice and data communications and links different tactical radios, including satellite communications.